For my birthday a few years ago my fiancée gave me a pair of new cuff links. To my surprise they were made out of old date nails. These were used by railroads as a way of keeping track of how old railroad ties were and when they were first installed. The practice of using these nails went out of use during the 1970’s. I’m not sure what railroad these came from but I do know they were from 1941. I snapped this photo when I got to work this morning.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Looks pretty cool!
@J 611 posted:For my birthday a few years ago my fiancée gave me a pair of new cuff links. To my surprise they were made out of old date nails. These were used by railroads as a way of keeping track of how old railroad ties were and when they were first installed. The practice of using these nails went out of use during the 1970’s. I’m not sure what railroad these came from but I do know they were from 1941. I snapped this photo when I got to work this morning.
Very nice! Are they (or the nails themselves) available commercially, or was this a one-off craft project?
@Steve Tyler posted:Very nice! Are they (or the nails themselves) available commercially, or was this a one-off craft project?
They are available online:
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
